THE MORTALITY rate associated with vascular complications in adults with diabetes has demonstrated an increase from 2001–2020, with the rise mainly due to an increase in deaths from nephropathy, reports Omolara Adeniran, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate University Hospital, New York City, USA. Adeniran emphasised that there has been an increase in vascular complications by 6.8% annually in the last two decades, with the largest increase occurring between 2009–2013.
The research team analysed data obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics. They focused on adults with diabetes in the USA who passed away between 2001–2020. The researchers analysed deaths caused by various vascular complications, including renal ophthalmic, neurologic, and peripheral circulatory complications.
The study assessed the overall trend of deaths related to vascular complications. The age-adjusted mortality rates were calculated for each specific complication on an annual basis. Joinpoint regression analysis was performed, utilising the age-standardised mortality rates to investigate the overall trend of vascular complication-related deaths.
There was a total of 4,957,211 diabetes-related deaths in the USA between 2001–2020, where approximately 16.1% were attributed to vascular-related complications. Among those who passed away, 71.1% died as a result of diabetic nephropathy, 27.1% due to peripheral circulatory complications, 1.5% from diabetic neuropathy, and 0.3% from diabetic retinopathy.
Adeniran stated: “From 2009–2013 is where we had the upward trend. But from 2013–2020, we see that it has been relatively stable.” From 2001–2007, the number of deaths attributed to diabetic retinopathy declined by 9.8% per year, before increasing by 6.7% annually from 2007–2020. Diabetic neuropathy-related mortality remained stable from 2001–2005; however, they started to increase by 4.7% per year from 2005–2020. On the other hand, deaths from peripheral circulatory complications declined steadily by about 3.1% per year from 2001–2020.
Adeniran emphasised the importance of closely monitoring patients with diabetes who show elevated microalbuminuria or have high blood pressure. This is because end-stage renal disease has been identified as one of the leading causes of death in this subset of patients.
